H bike is an electric bicycle-sharing system introduced by Hyundai Motor and Hyundai E&C.
Global automakers are expanding their territories to include mobility service in addition to traditional manufacturing and sales businesses. Hyundai E&C and Hyundai Steel are among the first movers. Hyundai E&C combines construction and mobility services while Hyundai Steel has launched a new brand for the future vehicle market.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction - Creating a new experience by integrating mobility services and space
If you are a The H and Hillstate resident, you can use the H bike at a low cost and with a simple procedure.
Mobility services from a construction company - there probably are not many things more unusual than this. Hyundai E&C decided to join forces with mobility service providers in order to provide a better service to their customers and to strengthen their competitive edge. Bicycle sharing pilot program with Hyundai Motor, “H Bike” and the “Demonstration and on-demand service program for smart mobility sharing” are key examples. The electric bicycles are powered using recycled battery cells from hybrid cars. Residents of The H and Hillstate apartment complexes can conveniently use the bicycles at a low cost, and this has all helped the service to receive a very positive reception.
Hyundai E&C Technology Institute, the brand marketing team and Poen, an in-house venture created by Hyundai and Kia employees, launched the smart mobility sharing service demonstration project in January this year. Their goal is to analyze residents’ life patterns and needs using data collected through H Bike, to provide the best mobility service possible. They also plan to roll out a more advanced mobility service for leisure activities and are developing mobility services for nonresidential houses.
Mini interview
The smart mobility sharing service demonstration program will review various mobility means and services.
Q. What are the key strengths a construction company can bring to mobility services?
Construction companies build most of the structures and spaces that people spend time in, which gives us insight, to be able to create mobility services suitable everywhere. Customers can benefit from innovative mobility services integrated into the buildings they live in.
Q. How did the H Bike fit into the pilot smart mobility sharing service program in January?
The pilot project aims to go beyond providing mobility services, collecting data and identifying users’ needs so that we are able to incorporate mobility services into our construction business and develop new business opportunities. The H bike program helped us learn more about residents’ needs and interests.
Q. What are Hyundai E&C’s plans for mobility services in the future?
Although at present we are only providing electric bicycles, we plan to add other forms of mobility devices and services based on the needs we identified through the pilot project. We will also continue our R&D efforts to make the buildings and spaces we build become the very center of mobility services.
Advisor. Jae-young Jung, an employee at the Technology Research Center of Hyundai E&C
Hyundai Steel - Taking the next step forward as a steel manufacturer for automotive parts
The concept car is designed by Hyundai Steel based on the technology of H-Solution.
The transition from conventional cars to hybrid cars and then to electric cars is making a profound impact on automotive parts and materials technologies. Hyundai Steel, which plays an important role in the performance improvements of Hyundai and Kia vehicles, has launched its own H-Solution brand to strengthen its competitiveness.
H-Solution provides car parts using high strength steel and hot stamping technologies with the goal of making greener, safer, and lighter car bodies ensuring good performance and low costs. Hyundai Steel will present their vision of how steel materials and technologies can be used to develop clean vehicles for the future.
Mini interview
By applying various lightweight materials such as aluminum and carbon fiber reinforced plastics, H-Solution has made the car body 9% lighter than other EV of the same class.
Q. Automakers have led materials R&D for automobiles. Why did Hyundai Steel decide to launch its own H-Solution brand?
It is true that we know less about automobile technologies than automobile manufacturers. However, the automobile market is undergoing a transformation with increasingly stronger environmental and safety regulations and the emergence of autonomous driving. The structure of green vehicles is fundamentally different from internal combustion engine vehicles.
We are striving to develop materials and parts manufacturing techniques optimized for electric vehicle platforms and to supply them to automakers as quickly as possible. We are conducting structure, crash and formation tests for different types of materials and reviewing new manufacturing processes and technology through virtual engineering.
Q. H-Solution has already introduced a number of new automotive materials and technologies. What is next for H- Solution?
When autonomous driving becomes a reality, steering wheels may disappear, fundamentally changing the cabin space and therefore the structure of the seats and center pillar. The entire structure of a vehicle will change. Such change will require the creation of a new type of reinforcement structure. Hyundai Steel plans to work on manufacturing technologies for parts including the vehicle body and doors using advanced high strength steel. We have established an online publicity channel to share our R&D achievements with customers quickly. We are working to develop new materials and manufacturing technologies. We will not disappoint our customers!
Advisor. Dong-yul Lee, a Senior Research Engineer at the Automotive Parts Development Engineering Team of Hyundai Steel
Text by. Byeol-nim Jung
